Try this Chilli chicken recipe, or contribute your own.
- oil for deep frying
- 1/4 tsp pepper powder
- 1 to 2 green chilies slit and deseeded
- 1/4 tsp. red chili powder
- salt little
- 250 grams boneless chicken
- 1 1/2 tsp. chilli sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp. soya sauce
- 2 to 3 tbsps corn flour (1 tbsp more optional)
- 2 to 3 tbsps plain flour / maida (optional use to ge
- 1 1/2 tsp. soya sauce
- 1 tsp chilli sauce (you can substitute with ketchup)
- 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper powder (optional)
- 3/4 to 1 tsp. vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced or cubed
- 2 tsps garlic chopped
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup cubed bell pepper / capsicum
- 1 sprig of spring onion chopped (optional)
- 4 to 5 leaves of celery chopped finely (optional)
- spring onions for garnish
- Carbohydrate 0.1134175 g
- Cholesterol 48.3333333333333 mg
- Fat 27.8964506324184 g
- Fiber 0.046375 g
- Protein 19.2608291666667 g
- Saturated Fat 1.94268028491224 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (110g)
- Sodium 54.2436666666667 mg
- Sugar 0.0670425 g
- Trans Fat 1.5695036986929 g
- Calories 330 calories
Step-by-step
- Marinate chicken with chilli sauce, soya sauce & pepper powder. Set aside until you prepare the rest. At least for 45 minutes. 2 hours is best. Meanwhile you could chop your onions, bell pepper and make the sauce ready for seasoning.
- Sprinkle corn flour, plain flour (optional) on the meat along with salt and mix well. If you like to have yours coated with crunchy flour like we get in restaurants, then use 1 more tbsp corn flour and 2 tbsp. plain flour. Add chili powder. If you wish to use egg, you can add it now. Mix well.
- Prepare the sauce .Add soya sauce, chili sauce, red chili powder, vinegar and ½ tsp sugar to a bowl and mix well.
- Heat oil in a pan and deep or shallow fry till it is done. Keep stirring to fry evenly. Do not over fry, it tends to turn hard. It can also be grilled at 240 C for 20 to 25 minutes in a preheated oven.
- When the it is cooked, drain on a kitchen tissue.
- Remove off excess oil from the pan, just keep 2 spoons oil in the pan. Add garlic fry for about a min, add onions, capsicum, spring onions, and celery and green chilies and fry till they turn slightly soft for about a minute or so.
- Pour the sauce that was prepared at step 3. Let the sauces bubble up well. To make chilli chicken gravy, follow step 9 from step by step pictures.
- Add the fried chicken, Mix well. If it looks dry, sprinkle little water. Saute on high flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve chilli chicken recipe hot as appetizer with fried rice or noodles.
Glossy amber edges cling tightly to pieces of poultry that shatter softly against the teeth before giving way to tender meat within. Indo-Chinese chilli chicken relies entirely on a precarious balance between crisp exterior crust and rapid interior steam cooking. Achieving this contrast demands careful management of moisture and starch.
The primary enemy of crispness is water released prematurely from protein cells. Marinating boneless chicken pieces in soy sauce, chili sauce, and pepper for at least 45 minutes begins a light saline curing process that firms the muscle fibers. Extending this rest up to two hours allows excess surface moisture to bind with the seasonings rather than dripping into hot oil. When coating the meat, mixing equal parts corn flour and plain flour creates a dual-action crust. Corn flour provides a brittle, glass-like crunch upon frying, while wheat flour absorbs residual juices to anchor the coating firmly to the protein.
Heat regulation determines whether the crust succeeds or fails. Deep frying requires oil maintained around 190 degrees Celsius. Overcrowding the pan drops this temperature drastically, causing the flour coating to absorb grease and turn soggy instead of dehydrating into a rigid shell. Remove the pieces as soon as they achieve a light golden hue, typically after four to five minutes, because prolonged exposure to heat desiccates the interior meat entirely.
Stir-frying the aromatics requires high heat for no longer than sixty seconds to retain the crisp-tender crunch of onions and bell peppers. Pouring the vinegar and sugar sauce mixture directly over the hot aromatics deglazes the pan instantly, creating a thick lacquer that coats the chicken without softening the starch layer. For those preparing components ahead of time, raw marinated meat holds safely in refrigeration for up to 24 hours before coating and frying. Leftovers maintain decent structural integrity when stored in an airtight container for up to two days, though reheating must occur in a dry pan or toaster oven rather than a microwave to prevent the crust from turning rubbery.
